In the pageantry scene, it is expected for the candidates to pour out all their devotion into winning the title–from early presentation of their gorgeous faces imbued with intellect in press conference, charity and outreach programs, the showcasing of talents and sashays of swimsuits, up until the grand coronation itself–ladies have come to maximize all their glitz and glamor to prove that they have what it takes to win the title. On the other hand, there are also candidates who would rather be low-key and give out their best on the coronation night itself–proven by this year’s dark horse, the charm of Mga Manininda ng Puerto Princesa Incorporated (M.M.P.P.I) – Nicole Lindsay Ramos.
On a daily basis
On a normal day, Nicole stuck to her routine: skipping full-blown breakfasts and would just drink coffee with biscuits, alongside binge-watching TV series, and K-Dramas whenever her schedule permits.
“Last year, may time na naging part ng routine ko yung pagpunta sa palengke since lumuwas si Mama sa Las Piñas,” the Miss Puerto Princesa queen said, also sharing about their coconut-grating business in the market.
“Si Papa magbubukas nung pwesto namin ng mga 5:30 AM, then sa tanghali ako magbabantay and magsasarado at around 6:00 PM, or sometimes depende sa customers na nagpapagiling din ng mani or bigas, since ang ginagawa ko lang naman ay usual na gawain ng cashier,” she shared.
During her early years, when she was still a student in Palawan National School, she would often walk her way to the old public market with her friends who are also onto the same route during class dismissal.
“Ang gagawin ko lang talaga dun (e) magmeryenda at magbasa ng libro habang nagpapalipas ng oras hanggang magsarado sa gabi,” Nicole said.
Further into Nicole’s interests, she shared that since 2014, she has been collecting fiction books. Since then, she also talked about the intense connection that she felt with a book author named Nicole Krauss, describing the author’s writing style as complex and really took her heart for its prose style.
Aside from reading books, Nicole also expressed her love for music, saying that she grew up listening to slow-rock songs, one of her father’s favorites.
In her teenage years, she has come to appreciate international indie bands, such as those of The 1975 and local hip-hop rappers, BLKD, for which she greatly admires due to their stance on social issues, plus, her fascination in watching fliptop videos.
One with the continuous wins
As young as 14, Nicole did her first catwalk on the runway scene, but she has also shared that the essence of such competitions was not in her field of interest since growing up as the eldest daughter, she did not have anyone to teach her the simplest to glamorous ways of being a woman, for she was more into “boyish” stuff.
“I remember the first time I showed up in a screening for a fashion show, out of politeness to the person who asked me to, I didn’t even get in because I was very timid,” Nicole remembered and shared that during her first pageant as one of the representatives of her barangay, she was not able to make it to the cut. However, more into her high school years, she attained her first title as Miss Intramurals 2014 of Palawan National School.
“I would often hear backhanded compliments like ‘ang ganda mo kapag naka-make up,’” said Nicole. She also recalled that such remarks were one of the main reasons why she became more reserved and kept a low-profile in joining pageants.
Consequently, that title paved her pageantry career, for which she was asked to represent for Mutya ng Palengke in 2016 wherein she also gained the title.
Further into the world of catwalk, she was also hailed as Miss Intramurals back in 2017 in Centro Escolar – Las Piñas and was able to reach up until the Top 10 for the search for Miss Intramurals 2018 in Philippine Normal University – Manila.
The Miss Puerto Princesa 2022
Come 2021, Nicole received numerous messages urging her to join this year’s search for Miss Puerto Princesa, but also became hesitant since she really did not want to go back to pageantry because of how the pressure greatly affected her self-esteem back in her early days.
“I made excuses that I’m busy with my demo teachings since it’s my final year of taking up Bachelor in Early Childhood Education at the PNU-Manila. I was initially asked to represent our barangay,”
“But I only considered the idea when I was asked to represent Mga Manininda ng Puerto Princesa Inc. (MMPPI)–to give honor and pride to the public markets,” said Nicole, also adding that she thinks it would have been unfair for her to represent her residential barangay since she does not hold any title from it. To also boost the morale of vendors and small business owners in the city, Nicole was compelled to give back to her ‘extended community’ from being hailed as Mutya ng Palengke back in 2016.
Recalling the past events of the search, Nicole was one of the timid candidates, who would just go for the catwalk and share her brightest smile to the public, and unconsciously impress the audience throughout the night. Although she did not get any awards during the press conference, talent night and the preliminary competitions, it was during the grand coronation night when she proved everyone’s doubts wrong.
The Crowning Moment
On the night of the coronation, Nicole stood still for the Top 10, down to the question-and-answer portion, and finally, on the immediate call for the 5 winners for this year’s search. The first ones to be called are the runner ups, then the north and south ambassadors. Down to 6 more candidates who were all waiting for their respective barangays to be called, it became a shocker when it was the charm of Mga Manininda ng Puerto Princesa Incorporated – Nicole Lindsay L. Ramos’ name was announced.
“To be honest, hindi na ako nag-expect to be called during the announcement of the five winners because there were stronger contenders than me who I also admire mostly because of their advocacies and personality,” she said, expressing her admiration for the other candidates of the search: Bancao-Bancao, Kamuning, and Tiniguiban.
However, she also thought about how she performed in the closed-door preliminary interview on the morning of the 27th, a few hours before the Talent Night for Miss Puerto Princesa and Binibining Seksi 2022 at the SM City Puerto Princesa.
“During that pre-activity, there were two judges who also sat during the coronation night who probably already had eyes on the candidates that they considered worthy of the title,” she said.
“The criteria during the closed-door preliminary interview time doesn’t include beauty but more on the substance of your answer,” she said and added that she thinks the interview performance was one of the big factors in choosing the winner for the coronation, since the special and minor awards that were attained in the past events no longer have any bearing for the selection of the Top 5 winners.
The Reign
In an interview, Nicole shared about the jitters that she’s getting as she gets to fill the great walkover and the high standards that the Miss Puerto Princesa 2021 – Jemimah Joy Zabala have set for the city.
“I am actually anxious about filling in the position that Miss Puerto Princesa 2021, ate Jemimah Joy Zabala had, since she is considered to be the best Miss Puerto that we had,” Nicole said.
“I am actually grateful that she sent me a message of reassurance the day after I won the title. It was very thoughtful of her to tell me that I don’t have to be like her or the other former queens,” said Nicole, highlighting Jemimah’s note, “You can be the queen you are meant to be, in your own way,” she added.
“Right now, I am anticipating that I’ll be more involved in the different celebrations of our city’s local culture and/or tradition, but to do that, right now, we should really aim for herd immunity so that we could reopen our local economy which will then help different sectors to slowly bounce back,” she said.
Upon being asked on what would her message for the young women who are also planning to take their pageantry journey, especially on being informative about the societal and environmental issues that the country is facing today, Nicole advises them to invest in their cultural capital especially if they are vying for the same title as hers.
“Many times, we were told that to be Miss Puerto, you don’t need to have the best ramp walk or other extravagant qualities,” she said.
“If you’ll notice, this year, the candidates were diverse. There’s Macarascas, an advocate of PWD empowerment who won the first ever Miss Puerto Princesa North Ambassadress title. She embraced herself and had a story that inspired many spectators,” she elaborated.
“Our Miss Puerto Princesa South Ambassadress from Inagawan who is dubbed as “Queen Raketera at the age of 18,” Sta. Monica actually has the best personality among us, next to Mabuhay who won Miss Congeniality,” she further narrated.
“If you have a talent, build on that since it is your asset, as Pagkakaisa did,” she said, making it fair for people to also look at the other candidates who have vied and won for this year’s search.
“Aside from that, utilize or maximize the platform to discuss relevant issues and select a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebound) advocacy,”
“Read more about the importance of combating misinformation, inclusive education, women empowerment specifically dealing with misogynistic behaviors done by our fellow women, etc. When it comes to environmental issues, advocate for sustainability,” said the Miss Puerto Princesa 2022, finalizing her story.
Outside of Pageantry
Aside from being a beauty queen, Nicole, our newly hailed Miss Puerto Princesa, also talked about her dream career and job in the near future. During her senior high school years, she did not consider any “dream job” to apply to. Hence, when she took the admission test for Philippine Normal University (PNU), she was only interested to take it with her friends since it’s situated in Manila, wherein they could go to national museums as a shenanigan.
She also shared that since then, she always had this fire in her for writing though not having any adequate experience or proper training in the world of campus journalism or journalism in the professional field, but this did not hinder her to succeed in the Qualifying Examination for Correspondents, Artists, Layout Artists, and Photojournalists (QUECALAP) of their university publication.
“Pero sabi nga nila kapag ‘di ka umalis sa comfort zone mo masyadong limiting, so noong nag senior high ako sa CELP doon ko talaga masasabing nagsimula ‘yung pagkatuto patungkol sa iba’t ibang isyung panlipunan,” said Nicole, also sharing that it was fascinating to have learned different aspects of social issues that are not commonly taught in school. With being exposed to such, this has led the Miss Puerto Princesa 2022 queen to continuously write complex and substantial topics in the present, and no longer much about her past contents about love stories.
“Gusto ko talagang about social issues na, to amplify yung calls ng marginalized sectors and ang proper platform naman kasi usually, as students, is through campus journalism kasi doon mo makikilala mga tao na same mindset or goal with you, and can help you enhance pagdating sa technicalities,” she added.
Furthermore, Nicole told Palawan Daily that if she is not a pre-service teacher or a writer about social issues, she would have taken the field of aeronautics–to become a Flight Attendant in the making or to have been a Magazine Contributor, all else that connects to creative non-fiction stories.
The Queen’s Role Model
Some are most vocal about their role models in paving their successes in life. As for Nicole, she focused more into the mindset of protecting to liken herself into another person, saying that it stemmed from growing up in a toxic household.
“Lumaki ako sa household na prevalent yung verbal abuse or even domestic violence kaya siguro napaka-reserved ko ring tao or hirap i-express sariling thoughts unless it’s written,” she said.
“If meron man, I usually look up to people who have a high level of self-efficacy, people who are certain of what they want, and usually assert themselves,” she added, saying that she finally reached the point of compromising rather than to cause misunderstanding, for which she sees unhealthy.
“Mas pinipili ko ko kasing alamin saan nanggagaling yung isang tao, bakit ganito ang behavior ‘til I realized, ‘Ah, kaya pala,’” believing that people, nowadays, lacks empathy and would rather and often express negation on social media for which Nicole highly doubts that they even have the guts to tell it straight-face to the one being oppressed.
One she shares her wins with
“Aside from my family, I’m most grateful to my handler, Mamu Joy Barlas. Although Mamu doesn’t have or handle a proper beauty camp, I’ve never felt exploited,” she continued.
“Since the first competition I joined with her as my make-up artist in 2014, we didn’t have a proper agreement about how prizes should be divided so cash was never an issue,” stating that they were all good as long as they got to enjoy a meal after every competition along with her other LGBTQIA+ friends.
Nicole also extends her gratitude to the FDreamTeam Production, most especially to the Creative Director of Miss Puerto Princesa – Geofred “Favs” Gabo, through their collective effort with the City Government as they were able to provide everything that the candidates needed in the competition, from snacks or full meals, wardrobe and heels, transportation after each rehearsal or activity, ensuring the full protection and security of the girls.
“Before the coronation, we even received a box containing self-care products from ma’am Judith Raine Bayron (Chairperson of the 18th Balayong Festival) so we could pamper ourselves,” she went on.
“Of course, my friends from Palawan National School (PNS), Centro Escolar Las Piñas (CELP) and Philippine Normal University- Manila (PNU-Manila), and co-candidates I became close with,” said the newly hailed Miss Puerto Princesa, finalizing her story.
At Present
Being hailed as the Miss Puerto Princesa 2022 last March 3, she was seen in different events in the city, starting from the March 4 celebration of the 150th Founding Anniversary of Puerto Princesa, along with the 18th Celebration of Balayong Festival, plus, the International Women’s Month celebration. However, there are also upcoming events that the queen will attend, one of her duties as the city’s new queen, imbued with her undying love to serve the people and to always stand with integrity no matter what.
It is surely one of our city’s prides to see another queen be in service of and for the Palaweños.
Everyone, soon to be one of this country’s leading educators, our Miss Puerto Princesa 2022, the Mga Manininda ng Puerto Princesa Incorporated’s charm, Nicole Lindsay L. Ramos.
